TV Shows
A television program, television programme or television show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on television, other than a commercial, channel ident, trailer, or any other segment of content not serving as attraction for viewership. It may be a single production, or more commonly, a series of related productions (also called a television series). A television series that is intended to comprise a limited number of episodes may be called a miniseries or serial. Series without a fixed length are usually divided into [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season_%28television%29 seasons or series], yearly or semiannual sets of new episodes. While there is no defined length, US industry practice tends to favor longer seasons than those of some other countries. A one-time broadcast may be called a "special," or particularly in the UK a "special episode." A television film ("made-for-TV movie" or television movie"), is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than released in theaters or direct-to-video. A program can be either recorded, as on video tape or other various electronic media forms, or considered live television. Television programming may be fictional (as in comedies and dramas), or non-fictional (as in documentary, news, and reality television). It may be topical (as in the case of a local newscast and some made-for-television movies), or historical (as in the case of many documentaries and fictional series). They could be primarily instructional or educational, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy and game shows.[citation needed] A drama program usually features a set of actors in a somewhat familiar setting. The program follows their lives and their adventures. Except for soap opera-type serials, many shows especially before the 1980s, remained static without story arcs, and the main characters and premise changed little. If some change happened to the characters' lives during the episode, it was usually undone by the end. (Because of this, the episodes could be broadcast in any order.) Since the 1980s, there are many series that feature progressive change to the plot, the characters, or both. For instance, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were two of the first American prime time drama television series to have this kind of dramatic structure, while the later series, Babylon 5, is an extreme example of such production that had a predetermined story running over its intended five-season run.[1] In 2012, it was reported that television was growing into a larger component of major media companies' revenues than film.[2] Some also noted the increase in quality of some television programs. In 2012, Academy-Award winning film director Steven Soderbergh, commenting on ambiguity and complexity of character and narrative, stated: "I think those qualities are now being seen on television and that people who want to see stories that have those kinds of qualities are watching television."[3] Genres See also: List of Television genres Scripted entertainment *Animated *Award shows (partially scripted) *Drama, which includes: **Action-adventure or Thriller **Comedy-drama **Legal drama **Medical drama **Police procedural **Political drama **Science-fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural drama **Serial drama **Soap opera **Teen drama *Miniseries and Television movies *Comedy **Mockumentary **Satire **Sitcom **Sketch comedy Unscripted entertainment *Game shows *Reality *Talk shows *Talent shows Informational *Infomercials – Paid advertising spots that are up to an hour long *News programs *Documentaries *Television news magazine – Dealing with current affairs Development United States When a person or company decides to create a new series, they develop the show's elements, consisting of the concept, the characters, the crew, and cast. Then they offer ("pitch") it to the various networks in an attempt to find one interested enough to order a prototype first episode of the series, known as a pilot. Eric Coleman, an animation executive at Disney, told an interviewer, "One misconception is that it’s very difficult to get in and pitch your show, when the truth is that development executives at networks want very much to hear ideas. They want very much to get the word out on what types of shows they’re looking for."[4] To create the pilot, the structure and team of the whole series must be put together. If the network likes the pilot, they pick up the show to air it the next season (usually Fall). Sometimes they save it for mid-season, or request rewrites and further review (known in the industry as development hell). Other times, they pass entirely, forcing the show's creator to "shop it around" to other networks. Many shows never make it past the pilot stage. The show hires a stable of writers, who usually work in parallel: the first writer works on the first episode, the second on the second episode, etc. When all the writers have been used, episode assignment starts again with the first writer. On other shows, however, the writers work as a team. Sometimes they develop story ideas individually, and pitch them to the show's creator, who folds them together into a script and rewrites them. If the show is picked up, the network orders a "run" of episodes—usually only six or 13 episodes at first, though a season typically consists of at least 22 episodes. (The midseason seven and last nine episodes are sometimes called the "mid-seven" and "back nine"—borrowing the colloquial terms from bowling and golf). United Kingdom In contrast to the US model illustrated above, the UK procedure is operated on a sometimes similar, but much smaller scale. The method of "team writing" is employed on some longer dramatic series (usually running up to a maximum of around 13 episodes). The idea for such a program may be generated "in-house" by one of the networks; it could originate from an independent production company (sometimes a product of both). For example, the BBC's long-running soap opera EastEnders is wholly a BBC production, whereas its popular drama Life on Mars was developed by Kudos in association with the broadcaster. However, there are still a significant number of programs (usually sitcoms) that are built around just one or two writers and a small, close-knit production team. These are "pitched" in the traditional way, but since the creator(s) handle all the writing requirements, there is a run of six or seven episodes per series once approval has been given. Many of the most popular British comedies have been made this way, including Monty Python's Flying Circus (albeit with an exclusive team of six writer-performers), Fawlty Towers, Blackadder and The Office. Production At the production company, which is often separate from the broadcaster, the executive producer, often the show's creator, is in charge of running the show. They pick the crew and help cast the actors, approve and sometimes write series plots (some even write or direct major episodes). Various other producers help to ensure that the show runs smoothly. As with filmmaking or other electronic media production, producing of an individual episode can be divided into three parts. These are: Pre-production Main article: Pre-productionPre-production begins when a script is approved. A director is chosen to plan the episode's final look. Pre-production tasks include storyboarding, construction of sets, props, and costumes, casting guest stars, budgeting, acquiring resources like lighting, special effects, stunts, etc. Once the show is planned, it must then be scheduled; scenes are often filmed out of sequence, guest actors or even regulars may only be available at certain times. Sometimes the principal photography of different episodes must be done at the same time, complicating the schedule (a guest star might shoot scenes from two episodes on the same afternoon). Complex scenes are translated from storyboard to animatics to further clarify the action. Scripts are adjusted to meet altering requirements. Some shows have a small stable of directors, but also usually rely on outside directors. Given the time constraints of broadcasting, a single show might have two or three episodes in pre-production, one or two episodes in principal photography, and a few more in various stages of post-production. The task of directing is complex enough that a single director can usually not work on more than one episode or show at a time, hence the need for multiple directors. Principal photography Main article: Principal photographyPrincipal photography is the actual filming of the episode. Director, actors and crew gather at a television studio or on location for filming or videoing a scene. A scene is further divided into shots, which should be planned during pre-production. Depending on scheduling, a scene may be shot in non-sequential order of the story. Conversations may be filmed twice from different camera angles, often using stand-ins, so one actor might perform all their lines in one set of shots, and then the other side of the conversation is filmed from the opposite perspective. To complete a production on time, a second unit may be filming a different scene on another set or location at the same time, using a different set of actors, an assistant director, and a second unit crew. A director of photography supervises the lighting of each shot to ensure consistency. Post production Main article: Post-productionOnce principal photography is complete, producers coordinate tasks to begin the video editing. Visual and digital video effects are added to the film; this is often outsourced to companies specializing in these areas. Often music is performed with the conductor using the film as a time reference (other musical elements may be previously recorded). An editor cuts the various pieces of film together, adds the musical score and effects, determines scene transitions, and assembles the completed show. Budgets and revenues Most television networks throughout the world are 'commercial', dependent on selling advertising time or acquiring sponsors. Broadcasting executives' main concern over their programming is on audience size. Once the number of 'free to air' stations was restricted by the availability of channel frequencies, but cable TV (outside the USA, satellite television) technology has allowed an expansion in the number of channels available to viewers (sometimes at premium rates) in a much more competitive environment. In the United States, the average broadcast network drama costs $3 million an episode to produce, while cable dramas cost $2 million on average.[5] The pilot episode may be more expensive than a regular episode. In 2004, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_%28TV_series%29 Lost]'s two-hour pilot cost $10–$14 million, in 2008 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_%28TV_series%29 Fringe]'s two-hour pilot cost $10 million, and in 2010, Boardwalk Empire was $18 million for the first episode. In 2011, Game of Thrones was $5–$10 million, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_%28TV_series%29 Pan Am] cost an estimated $10 million, while [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Nova_%28TV_series%29 Terra Nova]'s two-hour pilot was between $10 to $20 million.[6][7] Many scripted network television shows in the United States are financed through Deficit financing: a studio finances the production cost of a show and a network pays a license fee to the studio for the right to air the show. This license fee does not cover the show's production costs, leading to the deficit. Although the studio does not make its money back in the original airing of the show, it retains ownership of the show. This ownership retention allows the studio to make its money back and earn a profit through syndication and DVD and Blu-ray disc sales. This system places most of the financial risk on the studios, however a show that is a hit in the syndication and home video markets can more than make up for the misses. Although the deficit financing system places minimal financial risk on the networks, they lose out on the future profits of big hits, since they are only licensing the shows.[8] Costs are recouped mainly by advertising revenues for broadcast networks and some cable channels, while other cable channels depend on subscription revenues. In general, advertisers, and consequently networks that depend on advertising revenues, are more interested in the number of viewers within the 18–49 age range than the total number of viewers.[9][10] Advertisers are willing to pay more to advertise on shows successful with young adults because they watch less television and are harder to reach than older adults.[11] According to Advertising Age, during the 2007–08 season, Grey's Anatomy was able to charge $419,000 per commercial, compared to only $248,000 for a commercial during CSI, despite CSI having almost five million more viewers on average.[12] Due to its strength in young demos, Friends was able to charge almost three times as much for a commercial as Murder, She Wrote, even though the two series had similar total viewer numbers during the seasons they were on the air together.[9] Glee and The Office drew fewer total viewers than NCIS during the 2009–10 season, but earned an average of $272,694 and $213,617 respectively, compared to $150,708 for NCIS.[13]